Shoo Fly Trail.

This material was provided by Terry Eaton.

In the year 1876, when the settlements to the south of Wichita closed the Chisholm trail south to the Indian Territory, in order to get the Texas cattle into Kansas markets, a new trail was opened that branched off from the Chisholm trail one-half miles south of the Buffalo Springs Stage Station, which is one mile north of the present city of Bison, Oklahoma.

This trail went northeast, through the Tonkawa lands, past Blackwell and on to the quarantine pens and it was not long before a town began to grow south of the Arkansas river and in the early ‘O’s there was quite a boom.

The Old Shoo Fly Trail that went west to Caldwell from the Sixth street River crossing and also the Ponca Trail which led south to the Salt Fork River also helped to build this community.

As one traveled south on the old sixth street we find the Palmer Grocery which was located about a block east and between Lincoln Ave. On the east side of sixth street. Mr. Palmer moved this store into town about 1900.

Continuing on south on sixth street, we find Maud Kemp had a large two-story house about a block east and between Lincoln Ave. And the river. This place was notorious for its painted ladies and remained in business until the opening of the strip when the house was moved into town.

As we move on south across the river, some times on the bridge, other times by ferry or the old Yellow Bull ford, we find on our right a triangular piece of land on the river bank that was covered with willows. Shoo Fly Trail got its name from the guts the Indians would hang over the willows to dry, which they carried down from the slaughter houses to the west on the trail.

The old trail got its name from a party returning home from a dance and camped on a creek this side of South Haven. At the dance they heard a new piece of music played for the first time, so they named the trail and also the creek Shoo Fly, the name of that piece of music.

This community continued to grow, boasting of two saloons, a blacksmith shop, two grocery stores, a feed store, livery stable, a brick yard and a little church.

It was laid out in streets as far to the west as Summit Street and to the South to the present Lover’s Land and many homes were built in this area.

After the opening of the Cherokee Strip this community seemed to die and gradually by the late 1890s to 1900, most of the places of business were gone.

Ed Bird and Fred Bowers had one slaughter house and McDowell and Turvey had the other one. George Sifford had the blacksmith shop and his home there. There were two grocery stores, one of which was run by Mr. Blevins. There were two saloons, one of which was run by Jim Cherry who also had a livery stable and his home. Mr. Foster had a feed barn. We do not know who owned the brickyard.

The city of South Haven was first formed as Shoo Fly City in 1871. They applied for a post office but the name Shoo Fly City was objected to by the Post Office Department, so the name was changed to South Haven. We guess that the town’s name is derived from the Shoo Fly creek that flows northeast to southeast close to the south border of the city.